Direct Democracy in Chicago: Participatory Budgeting

Tell A Friend

Chicago's 49th Ward became the first US municipal jurisdiction to implement a Participatory Budgeting process, following a practice begun in Porto Alegre, Brazil over twenty years ago.. Participatory Budgeting opened up the decision making over infrastructure expenditures to all the residents of the Ward. Over 1600 community members voted to pass infrastructure projects proposed by other community members, covering the entire municipal budget, over $1.3M.